


An Auspicious Beginning

by Wrench_Wench



Series: Fics from Wrench_Wench's Tumblr [15]
Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics)
Genre: Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-06
Updated: 2018-12-06
Packaged: 2019-09-12 21:45:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16879788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wrench_Wench/pseuds/Wrench_Wench
Summary: Robin meets a new vigilante, and she really has an impact on him.-Written for tumblr in 2011, when people were wondering how certain characters might be introduced to the New 52.





	An Auspicious Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Original tumblr intro: SO I WROTE A FANFIC…  
> …and I actually completed it. This is a new thing for me. It’s a one-shot inspired by the news that Steph-as-Spoiler will be in the DCnU. I’m betting that she’ll be de-aged like so many other characters, so I decided to do a re-imagining of Spoiler and Robin’s first meeting.
> 
> This is dedicated to the awesome Gabby and Kitty, who are my inspirations.

An Auspicious Beginning

Robin hadn’t expected the strange figure in purple to pull out a grappling line and swing away. He certainly hadn’t expected them to do so with anything approaching  _competence,_ let alone grace. With an irritated tut, the young vigilante gave chase.

The last few days, but tonight especially, had been an exercise in frustration for the current Boy Wonder. Someone had stolen the GCPD’s entire evidence cache. Unless it was recovered, every single case currently being tried was in danger of dismissal from the courts. Batman and Robin had gone on the case immediately, only to discover the next night that they’d been beaten to the punch. Someone had not only recovered the evidence, but the had provided information on the culprit.

Arthur Brown was a crook of seemingly limited ability who, during one of his many stints in jail, had managed to work his way into the good graces of the powerful member of Gotham’s organized crime scene. Various crime families hired him to make sure that any and all evidence that could lead to a conviction for the local mob bosses was rendered inadmissible in court, or that it went missing. He had performed his job so well that he’d become known to the criminal world as “The Cluemaster” (apparently “The Evidencemaster” didn’t have the same ring to it).

What really irritated Damian was that neither he nor his father had uncovered any of this; they hadn’t even been the first ones to discover Arthur Brown’s hideout. The police had already searched his home and supposed place of business without luck. When Batman and Robin thought they had a lead on his location after interrogating a few Galante Family grunts, they arrived to find that someone had beaten them to the punch once more. This time literally.

The run-down office building was sporting brand new, two story tall graffiti. Whoever had written it was clearly seeking the police’s attention; the bright red paint declared “Let the Puzzlement Fit the Crime.” Inside they found a beaten and bound Arthur Brown.

Robin had decided to search the area for any sign of the mysterious rival vigilante while Batman dealt with the GCPD. It was during this surveillance that he noticed a figure dressed in purple watching the police’s arrival from a nearby rooftop. Without bothering to inform Batman, Robin began to tail the anonymous observer. Which lead to his current situation: at least five minutes away from any allies and in pursuit of a masked person of unknown skill and affiliation.

Damian cursed under his breath when his target disappeared into a brownstone that was under renovation. They must have been onto him, and confronting them in a confined area with numerous potential hiding places could be problematic. Ducking into the building through a bare window, Robin began to creep towards the area he believed his quarry to be. Carefully avoiding stepping on the construction detritus that would betray his location, Damian investigated the building’s fourth floor. It was unfortunate that Robin’s mask didn’t have infrared lenses, otherwise he might have avoided a rather painful blow to his face while rounding a dark corner.

Knocked off balance by the unexpected blow, Damian glared at his assailant. The culprit in question gasped in shock upon seeing just  _who_  they had struck.

“Ohmygod, you’re  _Robin!_  I am  _so_ sorry! I thought you were one of Da- er, Cluemaster’s mob buddies.” The woman, her voice was unmistakably female, sheepishly dropped the brick in her hand, which Robin now realized had been used to hit him. Timidly, she reached forward as if to check Damian for injury. Distrusting her intent, Robin lunged at her.

The ensuing scuffle lasted only a few seconds; the purple clad woman was clearly outclassed, and didn’t really seem to want to fight him. In the process of pinning her to the wall, Robin managed to dislodge the hood that had obscured her face. When he got a better look at his opponents face, Damian could barely conceal his surprise.

Though she’d taken the extra precaution of wearing a domino mask to conceal her identity, it was plain to see that the girl was only a few years older than Damian. Her wavy blond hair was falling out of it’s messy ponytail, and her blue eyes were visible beneath her homemade mask. There was a fading bruise on her cheek. Damian could hardly believe that this  _girl_ , so clearly untrained and inexperienced, had managed to best he and his father. The dull throbbing along his jaw fed the irritation and anger building up in the Boy Wonder’s head. There was a small part of him, fed by burgeoning hormones and an ingrained admiration for strong women, that was thoroughly intrigued by his opponent. Damian hastily pushed aside those more confusing feelings.

“Just who are you supposed to be?” Robin delivered his question with all of the disdain he could summon over his slowly swelling jaw. The girl winced momentarily before offering him a smile that was half sheepish, half hopeful.

“Er, hi. I’m The Spoiler. It’s nice to meet you.”


End file.
